Alone on Mont Blanc

Alone on Mont Blanc

An account of an Alpine training course and ascent of Mont Blanc with Wilderplaces.

Believe it or not but we had the summit of Mont Blanc to ourselves.

The secret to having one of the busiest Mountain routes in Europe to ourselves was to be out of sync with the crowds.
There were a few factors involved in this process.

• A good acclimatisation plan
• A fit and prepared group
• Good weather
• Overbooked huts ( see notes)

The team were from Dublin. Adam Niall and Will. They had all previously done mountain skills training with Bren Whelan of Mountaintraining.ie. This gave them a good level of knowledge on the equipment and fitness for mountaineering. Our aim was acclimatise and learn the alpine skills necessary for climbing Mont blanc and other alpine peaks.

To cut a long story short we spent 2 nights in huts at around the 3000m level and climbed a couple of peaks of rock snow and ice at about 3500m. The scary highlight of these trips was the (normally quite tame) very exposed climb up the snow arete to the aiguille de midi. A communal sigh of relief was heard from the group the guide and various onlookers as we arrived on flat safe man made terrain.

During the preparation days we covered techniques for rock climbing, belaying, use of climbing ropes, glacier travel ,use of ice axe and crampons and moving together over mixed ground. Due to their prior experience with Bren and some natural talent the lads picked up these skills fairly easily.

As we descended in The cable car from the Midi, Claire called from the office to say that despite continuous attempts to book the huts since late April she had been unable to get the places we required. Under normal circumstances with an average group of climbers this might have meant cancelling the attempt.

Not for us though. One big factor in our favour was that we within a few days of the summer solstice. This gave us plenty of daylight.

Armed with this knowledge we caught the first train to the Nid D aigle. We disembarked at 9 am and started to head for the Summit. Our plan was to take it slow and steady with plenty of stops for water and food.
First stop was the tete Rousse around 11.30am then a second stop at the Gouter around 2.30pm.

The gouter was already full of people waiting to go to the summit that night. A desolate place at the best of times it is made even less enticing when it is packed solid with people. It was with great pleasure that we left the hut and headed for the open and quiet mountain at 3 pm.

Apart from a few tents on the ridge behind the hut there was no one to be seen. Unfortunately at about 4000 metres Adam felt the effects of altitude and with Swedish mountain guide Jimmy Halvardson he decided to turn back.

Niall Will and I pushed on the next landmark, the Vallot hut at 4400metres. The early evening light shone down on a sea of clouds over chamonix on our left and italy and the gran Paradiso on our right. A strong wind was blowing and a small cloud covered the summit of Mont Blanc.
We rattled and banged our way up the ladder into the Vallot. It was empty except for a bundle of cloth in the far left corner.
Sheltered from the wind we took the opportunity to have a snack and a drink. Anticipating a cold wind we added an extra layer of clothing. Now Niall hearing the wind howling outside and considering the long walk back to the Valley decided against continuing to the summit.

Then the heap of clothing in the corner came to life to reveal a Russian couple, one of whom was suffering from altitude sickness.They told us they had come over from Cosmiques hut. Their equipment looked like it had been bought in the sports department of Dunnes stores some time in the 1980s. They seemed tired, worn out but capable of descending the next day. They were in for an uncomfortable night.

Will And I headed for the summit. I don’t think this part of the ascent ever feels easy as it passes from 4400metres to 4800metres.

Quite often the final ridge is gruelling and bordering on misery. Frequently it is crowded and a precarious ( dangerous) maneuver is required as ascending and descending parties meet.
Climbing it at 7 pm on a Tuesday evening was a totally different experience. We went at our own pace and stopped to look at the view as we pleased. There was no one else on the mountain, the track in the snow was in very good condition. It was an experience bordering on pleasant.

As we approached the summit Will took the lead. Summiting felt new and exhilarating. The best part of the day was cramponing down the ridge toward home as the sun began to set over Geneva.

It is was not an easy way to do Mont Blanc but certainly it was one of my most satisfying ascents

Notes

(This was part planning and part expediency. Although we had been trying to book the Gouter and Tete rousse huts since they opened reservations in April we did not succed in getting a place in the hut. We therefore went from the first train and returned to the Nid d aigle hut in the same day)

Cosmique’s Arete

Down climbing a snow slope on the Cosmiques arete

Pat Starts initial snow slope

Pat Wigglesworth on the cosmiques arete just before the final chimmney pitches

Robbie spend 5 thouroughly enjoyable days climbing with Pat Wigglesworth last week.  With 1 weeks climbing in Ireland with Bren Whelan (www.mountaintraining.ie) under his belt Pat came to Chamonix to learn more.

They started off with some multipitch climbing in Vallorcine, then headed up high to experience some snow, and altitude with an ascent of from the Torino Refuge of a very enjoyable little peak called the Aiguille du Toule 3534m. Day 3 saw rain here in Chamonix so through the Mt Blanc tunnel they went to the sunny Italian side.  Here Pat did his first lead climbs on some lovely bolted granite. The highlight to the week was to be an ascent of the classic Cosmiques Arete. The mountain was clagged in with cloud but the climbing conditions were great.

Altogether a very enjoyable trip and we look forward to more climbing with Pat in the not too distant future!

Thanks Pat!

Robbies Account
This 5 day trip was a very interesting way to open the Summer season of 2009. Pat the builder from Dublin was an excellent companion and full of great stories of building jobs during the now defunct celtic tiger era.
It was fascinating to hear descriptions of what it was actually like to get swept up in the building boom of the 1990s and early 2000s. Tales of hard work and long hours and also lucky breaks. But also of tribunals, greed and bad planning. The cast of characters included corrupt council officials, overworked city planners, and certain well known politicians. It seems that the rumours of that we read in the newspapers were actual real life occourances.
On our first days climbing Pat described a formative mountaineering trip that he had with an instructor from Tiglin Adventure Centre ( now deceased – the centre not the instructor).
As a teenage venture scout he and some of his friends spent several days in the Wicklow mountains climbing and camping. One of his most vivid memories of this trip was been woken early one morning as the bunk bed was being turned over by the aformentioned instructor ( who later apologised for this rude awakening).
Despite the initial rough treatment they had an amazing trip including an ascent of Lugnaquilla which had made such a big impression on Pat that over 30 years later he wanted to make a return to the mountains. As I sat there at the bottom of the cliff listening, I had already guessed the name of the mountaineering instructor that had made such a big impression on the young Pat Wigglesworth. It was none other than my Uncle ( and in many ways my childhood hero) Paddy O Leary.
Now 35 years later here was Pat again with the Nephew, the same age as his uncle had been on Pats previous Mountain adventure. Who Says Kharma doesnt exist!